Going after tomorrow
by PT21
Summary: An old friend decides it's time he pushed two of his buddies together not knowing that they were doing very well without his help!  Posting this a chapter a day - 18 in all.  Gabby. Don't like this couple together, then don't read!
1. Chapter 1

**GOING AFTER TOMORROW**

By Caz

Disclaimer is in force, so please, leave me alone, huh?

Set: Who knows? But this is primarily a love story. Places are as close to reality as I can make them. I apologise if I've got the geography wrong!

Rating it M because of some language and mild sex situations.

Hope you enjoy as this is my first 'proper' NCIS story and not one I've adapted.

Reviews; Sure I like them as much as the next person. Not too keen on flames though, thanks J

Chapter one

**Thursday 5.20 pm**

"Hey, Gibbs."

"Hey, Abby. What're ya doin'?"

Abby grinned as she swung her body around on the chair making her pigtails swing out like propellers. "Nothin'."

Gibbs sighed as he eyed the bubbly lab tech with unease. "Aren't you supposed to be running tests on that sample that Ducky sent up? Y'know, the one that I'm waiting on?" He added with a trace of sarcasm.

"Are you going to give me that Caff Pow! that you're hanging on to there, Gibbs, or have I gotta scream blue bloody murder to get you to hand it over?" She grinned up at him without an ounce of guilt at her sass.

"Abby." Gibbs warned, his tone turning to a menacing growl as he prowled before her.

Abby shot to her feet, her hands flying high as she surrendered to the invisible attack. Not that she considered anything that Jethro Gibbs did to her was a real, live attack. He was her puppy. She knew that, and he knew that, too. But even so, she was aware of the limit of how much she could push him, especially when she had a result that he'd want to hear. "Okay, okay! Caff Pow! first, result second."

The growl came again, this time right behind her. She knew he was near because she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck, tickling her, exciting her, if she was honest with herself, as she hit the keyboard revealing the details that he was crowding her for. "Abby, just give me the damn results." But even as he grumbled at her side he plunked the much loved caffeine drink down beside her keyboard.

Knowing that he was on dangerous ground if he'd have stayed where he was behind her, Gibbs leant down besides her keeping his hands and his eyes away from the temptation that plagued him every time he came down into Abby's laboratory. It was bad enough dealing with the woman herself on a daily basis, it was another being constantly tempted by her somewhat revealing, if not kooky, outfits. It was bad enough her being a Goth with her outrageous assessories. But besides all that, her clothes were a complete turn on for him, especially the cute little black pleated mini skirt that she favoured, especially when it was teamed with the miniscule red T shirt.

Okay, so sometimes she dressed like a school girl, but damn it all, she always wore stuff that made him as horny as hell and it was a real struggle for him sometimes to stop himself from putting both his hands on her hips and pulling her back against him. At least one of his hands was occupied when he brought her a Caff Pow! And if he was really lucky, he still had some of his own drink left by the time he got down to her so both of his hands were full.

His racing thoughts were quickly brought back to present when he finally registered what she was telling him. "Did you hear me, Gibbs? It wasn't the same bullet that killed our John Doe. _This_ bullet came from a different gun. _This_ bullet, Gibbs, has a flaw, and," She added with a flourish, spinning to face him as he pushed himself to a stand, her face alive with the pleasure of yet another success. "I found a partial print on it. I'm running it as we speak!"

It wasn't enough for him. It was never enough. "Is that it, Abs. Is that all you found?" His gaze was steady as he shattered her moment of euphoria.

Abby immediately deflated under his scrutiny, but before he could blink an eye, her face suddenly split with a grin as she held up her index finger on hearing a familiar, 'ping!' behind her. "Not... quite." The finger turned and beckoned him to follow her as she turned away from him and headed to her other computer station hitting the access as soon as she reached it and with a satisfied crow, she added, "And the print belongs to... Lieutenant, Marcus Welling."

Shaking his head in defeat, the smirk telling her that she'd outsmarted him once again, Gibbs stepped towards her and said huskily, "Good job, Abs."

He was going to kiss her on the cheek again and Abby readied herself for it by holding her breath for the sensations that she knew would sweep through her body at the intimate action. God, how she wanted him to sweep her into his arms and give her the kiss that she really craved for, but that darned rule 12 popped up in between them every time.

And besides, Abby didn't even know if that was what Gibbs wanted. He was fond of her, she knew that instinctively. But to take it further - if they could - she just wasn't sure enough of him. She'd seen him smile in the same way at other women, and, damn it all, she seen him kiss them on the cheek in the same way as he kissed her.

But she was Abby. She was _special._

She visibly started when she felt two tender finger tips touch her jaw line and her mouth was still slightly open when those same finger tips pulled her face gently to the side and she felt warm lips settle upon hers, but before Abby could even register what Gibbs was doing to her, those same lips were gone.

By the time Abby regained her senses, Gibbs' was swinging away from her and heading for the door. She couldn't let him go, not without saying something. Her blurted, "Gibbs!" brought his steps to a halt and he slowly turned around on the spot. Abby could see in his wary gaze that he was expecting her to ask him why, or worse still, something even worse than that, but after a long hesitant moment, Abby smiled shyly at him and said, "Don't forget to wipe the lipstick off."

Gibbs' trademark smirk lit up his face as he winked and spun on his heels and carried on out of the door leaving behind a slightly bemused and shell-shocked Abigail Scuito.

Abby slowly walked back over to her computer and stood silently in front of it as she silently pondered Gibbs' actions. What did it mean? What did that kiss mean? What was going to happen next time she made his day? And, damn it, what the hell did she do now?

Her black tipped fingers touched her equally dark lips revelling in the fact that she knew that they would now be smudged. Did she go to the ladies and touch them up, or did she leave them be? Hell, she wanted the world to know that Gibbs had kissed her, on the lips, but in her heart, she knew that she could not, and would not, do that to him. What ever happened between them, no matter how trivial or bizarre, stayed that way. Those moments were their secrets.

Gibbs was one of the most private men she had ever met. He would take their kiss to his grave, if need be. But was it just a kiss? Abby pondered. Gibbs had never ventured any further than her cheek before. His touches had been impersonal, sweet, but impersonal.

Or were they?

It was true. Gibbs always seemed to be there for her when she needed him most. A hug when she was scared. A gentle shoulder massage when she was tense or tired. And then there were the kisses, sweet, treasured, and priceless.

But the more Abby thought about those treasured moments, the more she wondered about the man behind them. She knew he'd been married before and was certainly in no hurry to do it again, of that she was certain. And she knew that she was probably too kooky to go that route herself. There were not many men who could take on her own lifestyle. There were even less that would sleep in a coffin.

Would Gibbs, or wouldn't Gibbs? That was the mother of all questions. She grinned as she pictured herself asking him one day, and then she openly laughed as she visualised his response. 'Whaddya think, Abs?' The only answer that she knew she would get out of him leaving her to work it out for herself, and he was more than aware that she couldn't. In reality, Abby knew as little about Gibbs as the rest of the planet, and that was just the way he wanted it. The man was an enigma and as far as Abby was concerned, enigmas were just another thing to be investigated.

Gibbs rode the elevator in subdued silence, but his mind was working overtime. 'Now what the hell did I go and do that for?' He mentally slapped himself upside the head as he relived the moment when his lips had touched hers. He'd been dying to do it for as long as he could remember and had only managed to stop himself up until now by being a bastard to her.

In truth, Abby Scuito was the best lab tech he had ever come across. Her expertise in the laboratory was nothing short of miraculous. Nothing ever phased her, and the odd time that it did, she pow- wowed with McGee and between them, they got the job done, not that she couldn't have done it on her own, but sometimes - just sometimes - especially when she had things on her crazy mind, things got the better of her.

But even so, she _was_ a phenomenon.

And he had kissed her, damn it!

The elevator ground to a halt at his level and he stepped through the doors, silently groaning as he heard the familiar banter between his sidekick and the latest probie. Tony and Ziva were always sparring and everybody except them knew it was their idea of foreplay. One of these days, Gibbs knew he was going to step out from that elevator and find them with their tongues down each other's throats with McGee looking on with his usual stumped expression as he pondered on whether to stop them before he got there, or leave them to it and hope for the best.

As usual McGee was tapping away at his keyboard, instantly spotting him as he headed his way. Even his approach sent his team into a frenzy which made Gibbs silently chuckle. Such was his power.

"DiNozzo, you're with me. Ziva, McGee, go round up Lieutenant Welling. I want his ass in the interrogation room within the hour."

As McGee slowly came to a stand he raised his hand like he was still in a schoolroom. "Boss, I thought we eliminated him?"

Gibbs was already reaching into his drawer for his badge and gun as he responded to the question that he'd known was coming. "Abs lifted a print off the bullet. I want him in here, now!"

As expected the two agents responded like a pair of jack rabbits with a gun aimed at their asses, their united, "On it, boss." echoed around the bullpen making Gibbs smirk with satisfaction as he followed them to the elevator with Tony hot on his heels.

"Where are we going, boss? Have we got time to grab something to eat? You know I've been working my..."

"Mouth off to Ziva. Yeah, I know, I heard. Don't you two do anything else other than argue?"

Tony looked from one comrade to another as they all piled into the elevator, the air becoming tense just with the proximity of the four of them in less than a couple of yards square. All eyes were upon him as he frantically searched for a suitable response. "She likes it, boss. I'm helping her to improve her English. They say that fighting makes you say words that you would never say in an ordinary conversation." Tony patted himself on the back for his amazing rejoinder.

But Ziva got him. "What, like, asshole, and butthead. Great English words, Tony, especially when I'm arguing with jerk ups, like you."

The comeback was unanimous as all three of her comrades turned to face the closing doors and said together with a grin, "Jerk off."

The day was done, at last. The bad guys were behind bars. Peace wafted through the bullpen and Abby's laboratory at last sparkled with cleanliness as she whipped off the cleansing cloth from the last corner of her evidence table.

"There. Done." she crowed, her face splitting into a triumphant grin. There weren't many days that could put her world to rights - at least professionally. The evidence she had supplied through her brilliance had resulted in a job well done. Her laboratory looked like a showcase once again. Gibbs had kissed her and Abby figured that at that moment, she was the happiest bat in the whole wide world.

And as she slipped on her jacket and pulled the bands from her pigtails, quickly ruffling her fingers through her dark tresses, she wondered what tomorrow held in store for her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

**Friday 5.30 am**

Abby screwed up her eyes as she tried to blot out the thumping. It was round two and she spun on the spot and buried her head under her pillow in a valiant effort to drown the sound. But still the pounding persisted.

"Damn it, go away!" She bellowed, the sound muffled by the pillow. But when the cell phone on her bedside cabinet began to shrill, she reluctantly surfaced. As she groped for the phone she drowsily realised that the room was still in darkness. Flicking the skull shaped lamp on beside her, Abby finally shifted to a seated position and stared gloomily at the tiny lit up screen before her.

Gibbs.

Disbelieving at what she was seeing, she squinted at the clock face beside her. 5.30 am. He had 'GOT' to be kidding her. No one rose at 5.30 unless they were getting her favourite breakfast treat ready at McDonalds.

Abby grimaced as the shrill tone of her cell continued to hurt her ears and with reluctance, she pressed the green acknowledgement button and put it to her ear. "This had better be good, Gibbs. This is 'not' my favourite time of day."

Gibbs smirked as he imagined his little fire-cracker sitting up in bed with the prettiest of pouts upon her face and her hair a wild ebony mane around her head. "You've got 10 seconds to get your butt out here and let me in, Abby."

Abby didn't get a chance to respond as he promptly cut her off knowing that he would probably get a tongue-lashing for waking her. Abby, before she was properly awake was not a nice girl. He knew he'd been right to cut her off when barely 5 seconds later the door flew open.

Gibbs had expected her to open her door in little more than her night attire, which in this case was an overly long T shirt baring a rather cute picture of Betty Boo on its front. What he didn't expect was to be able to see her naked body clearly showing through it. Time and excessive wearing had clearly worn away the fabric's thickness leaving her wearing little more than a thin gauze.

God, what did he do, as he forced his eyes to move away from her tempting breasts that had puckered tight when the chilled morning air had hit her skin? He steadily held her gaze as he worked out the kinks in his throat that had temporarily halted his speech until after too long a moment he stepped forward and edged past her, being very careful not to touch her revealing body, firmly keeping his eyes upon hers as he passed.

It wasn't until he'd passed by and stepped far enough away from her that he let the breath that had got stuck in those same kinks that had stopped him speaking, go. Abby instantly spun on him, now sufficiently awake enough to get a grip on her still half asleep head. "You have got to be kidding me, Gibbs. What in hells name is that important that you have to wake me up at the crack of dawn?"

She stomped like a petulant child before carrying on. "Damn it, Gibbs! I don't need this. I'm a girl that needs her beauty sleep. I'm a girl that needs...What are you smirking at?"

It took a long moment for Abby to notice that Gibbs was saying nothing - even though in retrospect, she knew that he couldn't as she was running away at the mouth. But even so, something about the way he was watching her made her uneasy, and so she asked again. "What, Gibbs?"

As he rocked gently on his heels Gibbs grinned at her more than pleased with himself that he'd managed to unnerve her. "You're naked, Abs."

Abby's shocked eyes swung downwards her mouth already to say that she wasn't and that she was wearing a perfectly respectable night shirt. That was until she saw the tell-tale outline out her dark tipped breasts clearly visible through the well worn T shirt. Instinctively her hands flew to cover herself, but then she changed her mind and let them drop to her sides with a shrug. It was obvious that Gibbs had seen all that she had to offer and so hiding it seemed a pointless exercise.

She took a few steps towards her bedroom before she remembered that she was in the middle of a tirade and he hadn't answered her question so she stopped and swung back to him, this time deftly folding her arms over her chest to hide how her belated response to him was affecting her.

She didn't miss the smirk. "Just why are you here, Gibbs. Surely it wasn't just to catch me in my nightwear?" She added her own smattering of sassiness to lighten the moment, but then decided she needed to visit the bathroom more than listen to his rude excuse for waking her. Spinning on her heels Abby held up one finger indicating that he held his answer until she returned and quietly escaped the scrutiny that she knew her ass was receiving.

Gibbs quietly laughed and headed towards her kitchenette figuring that they both needed a quick fix of caffeine. By the time Abby had returned he was sipping on his and hers was sitting on the small table waiting.

But this time when she returned she was wearing an ordinary outfit of black fatigues and a black and white chequered blouse. Gibbs eyed it with interest before settling his gaze on her face. She had brushed her hair and brushed her teeth - he could smell the distinct scent of mint - But she had yet to put on her make-up. She looked cute.

Picking up her mug she took a tentative sip and sighed with bliss as the rush of tranquillity filtered through to her soul. She sat for a long moment with her eyes closed as she devoured the sensations that trickled through her, but eventually she opened them feeling somewhat calmer and asked once again. "Why are you here, Gibbs?"

Gibbs carefully put his cup on the table before him as he formulated what he wanted to say to her. In the end, he raised his pale eyes and looked at her as he said. "I thought you might want to talk about what happened yesterday, Abby."

Abby replaced her own cup to the table ignoring the light tremble that she could see in her fingers at the unexpected question. But she wasn't ready to give him an answer, too much rode on her response. So instead, she said. "I thought you were here to brief me on a case, Gibbs."

"I am," he responded. "This is the case, Abby. I think it is time we delved into the mystery of us and tried to find a solution." He took her silence as shock and continued on. "Yesterday, after I did what I did..."

Abby found her voice. "You just kissed me, Gibbs, that's all. It was just a harmless kiss."

Gibbs tipped his head to the side and looked at her in confusion. "Is that all it was, just a kiss?"

She spun the question back at him. "Wasn't it? I've been kissed a few times in my lifetime, Gibbs, and there was nothing particularly special about that kiss you gave me, nice as it was."

Who was she trying to kid? That kiss had meant more to her than she suspected that it meant to him. That kiss was going to be tucked away and cherished for the rest of her life, no matter how trivial it was to him.

But was it? At the quick flicker of pain that she saw in his eyes she realised that she had made a monumental mistake. She'd forgotten that Gibbs didn't make mistakes, especially when they concerned matters of the heart. But she'd said it now, and so it was too late to take it back.

Nerves overcame her and she began to babble to hide them. "I mean, come on, Gibbs, how many times have you kissed a girl like that with nothing more than friendship in mind? I've seen you kiss Kate and Ziva. I've even seen you kiss the director the same way, and she was an ex! Gibbs, if that kiss was supposed to mean more than what it was, then you sure need to do better than that!"

Gibbs' face looked dangerous as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. He hadn't liked having other women pushed down his throat, especially not his ex-live-in-lover. The same lover that he'd had some of _the_ hottest sex he'd ever experienced with. But Abby didn't know that. She wasn't going to, either.

He briefly envisioned himself rolling naked on a bed like he had with Jenny, replacing her features with the dark haired beauty before him. It didn't gel. His gut was telling him that sex with Abby was going to be very different, if he ever got that far. And at the rate that they were going, never sprang to mind. Was the kiss a fluke? Was the kiss nothing more than a friendly, never to be repeated, peck?

No, kissing Abby Scuito had been different, only it hadn't been good enough for the woman who now stood opposite waiting for the tongue lashing she was sure he was going to give her. Well, he'd have to change that, wouldn't he? "Are you challenging me, Abs?" He growled.

Startled, Abby gaped at Gibbs as he leant threateningly across the table towards her, and instinctively, she leaned back away from his fiery eyes. "No. Yes...I mean...no."

Gibbs growled low in his throat. "Make up your damn mind, Abby. Did you like me kissing you, or not? It was a simple enough question, just answer it."

This was getting too weird and whacky for Abby to comprehend. What in hell's name was he asking of her? She chuckled nervously. "Sure, Gibbs, of course I liked it. Didn't you?"

The smart Alec answer back threw him for a moment, but not for long. "Hell, no, of course I didn't like it! It felt like I was kissing a school girl. Damn it, Abby, I expected more."

He didn't add that he'd wanted more, and it was only because of where they'd been that he hadn't taken it further.

And that was the reason he was there, in her home, waiting for an invitation.

Abby didn't know what to say, except, "Sorry."

Gibbs didn't even think about his response to that. "Never say you're sorry, it's a sign of weakness." Sighing, he wearily sunk into his seat again and Abby followed suit, her own descent laced with wariness. Gibbs was beginning to scare her. She didn't know what he wanted with her. Was he searching for something more than the kiss he'd given her? An affair. Sex? What!

She watched as he took another swig of his cooling coffee, watched as he silently wrestled with his thoughts, deliberately avoiding her eyes as he figured out what to do next. She'd have balked if she'd really known what was racing through his mind.

Eventually though, Gibbs did finally look up at her and took a deep breath before he spoke. "Will you come to my place for a while? Yours...unsettles me."

Abby pushed herself to her feet and held out her hand to him, her smile encouraging. "Sure. We can sand your boat while you tell me what's really wrong. Okay?"

Gibbs took the proffered fingers and followed her towards the door. His half smile was all he was able answer her with as he struggled with his conscience with what he was doing. Abby didn't deserve his craziness, but, damn it all, he was through with toying with her emotions, and his own. He had two whole hours to make her see that his tentative kiss was telling her that he wanted her in his life, romantically, _if_ he hadn't blown it this morning with his caveman tactics.

When they reached the door, Abby reached down with one hand and slipped on her boots, not bothering to lace them up. When she straightened up she turned to face him with a gentle smile that soon told him that he was forgiven, for the moment. He didn't dare do what he wanted to do, which was to kiss her again, so instead he gently cuffed her chin with his knuckles, his relief evident in the half grin that he silently threw her.

"Come on," He grinned as he took her fingers and tugged her after him, "let's hit the road."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

**Friday 9.32 am**

The three agents sat subdued in their chairs waiting for their boss to arrive to kick start their brains into work mode. Tony sipped on his coffee, and in between that, he nibbled on a Danish pastry. Only, Tony being Tony didn't just nibble at it like any other normal person would. He systematically tried to nibble off the circles of icing that swirled around the top of it before devouring the rest with a gusto that only Tony could achieve.

Ziva watched him with affectionate tolerance. Ever since they'd returned from Israel a subtle truce had settled between them. Well, most of the time. Tony still liked to rib her, and she still liked to remind him that she could kill him in an instant. She wouldn't, but he didn't have to know that. Her confidence in him had soared through the roof when she'd finally sat and thought about things in a more logical manner, and she now was proud to have him at her back, and her side, when she occasionally let him be there.

Tim McGee pounded away on his keyboard as though the devil himself were dogging his tail. They had no current cases to work on and they knew that all the notes had been typed up, so what in the devil was he writing, a new book? The opportunity to tease was irresistible.

"Whatcha doing there, Mcshirk? Writing another chapter for your latest million buck seller?"

Knowing he'd been caught out - yet again - Tim hit the escape button and sent his screen into blank mode. He'd been so engrossed in his latest book he hadn't seen DiNozzo creep up behind him and silently groaned when he realised just what the nosy agent had probably read. But lying was not worth the ribbing he was sure he would get if he tried it, so he gamely smiled up at the handsome man's face, successfully holding back the snicker when he spotted sticky icing stuck to the few bristles under his nose. "Actually, Tony, I was. And no, you can't read it."

Caught up with the excitement of her co-worker beginning to become a best-selling author, Ziva piped up from across the bullpen. "Please, McGee. Can't you even tell us the plot?"

McGee sat back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head, enjoying the power he suddenly had over his co-workers. "Nope. No can do. It's early days yet and I do not want you two constantly giving me pathetic ideas of what I should write."

"Didn't like the super hot love scene I suggested last time then, huh?" Tony quipped, slipping back into his own seat to imitate McGee's pose.

McGee sighed with tolerance. "No, I didn't, Tony. Love scenes do not belong in murder mystery stories, especially stories that have no women in them."

Tony shuddered. "No women? Who'd wanna read a story with no women in it?"

"Real men, Tony."

"And women, McGee. I like to read stories that don't have some slappy female spoiling the plot."

"The word is sappy, Ziva, and you're not a woman. You're..." Tony quickly shut his mouth when Ziva rose to her feet and there was no mistaking her intent as she started to make her way over to his chair. "Unique, Ziva. You're unique!" he spluttered, knowing that he'd pushed his luck a little too far, especially so soon after losing a man that she had apparently loved, and by his hand.

Tony wasn't quick enough in hiding behind McGee as he dived for cover and Ziva caught him on the buttocks with the rule that he hadn't spotted her slip behind her back. "Yes," she spat, but without venom. "I _am_ unique, and don't you forget it."

"Yeow! That stung, you little she-cat!" He squealed, rubbing his rump as he batted down the sudden rush of excitement that her move had created. Ziva made her way back to her desk, her smug grin hidden from his view as she silently gloated over her attack. Every time she got near enough to Tony to inflict some kind of pain gave Ziva a rush of feminine power, and she loved it.

She had barely sat down when Director Vance made himself known as he looked down at them from the balcony. "Where's Gibbs?"

The three agents looked from one to the other before looking up at their number one boss. It was Tony, seeing as he considered himself to be the next in charge in Gibbs' absence, who spoke up. "Not got here yet, sir. Want me to phone him?"

Vance had a worried look on his face as he slowly made his way down the stairs towards the team who had come to their feet. "No, I've tried that. I can't get hold of Miss Scuito either. Anyone know where she might be?"

They all managed to hide the little telling look before once again, Tony answered his query. "Nope. We figured that maybe they were held up together somewhere. I know they sometimes have breakfast at Micky D's."

"And who is Micky D, DiNozzo?"

Tony looked at him as if he'd gone mad. "Micky D. MacDonalds, sir. Y'know? Land of the fatso fries and dead salads."

Vance cut in as he slowly headed down the stairs. "I know MacDonalds, DiNozzo. My kids love going there. McGee, find out where Gibbs' phone was last used - and be discreet about it. I don't want to cause mayhem if there is a simple explanation as to why they are late."

"On it, boss." Within minutes, with his two co-workers crowding behind him, Tim got a result. "Sir, the last place Gibbs used his phone was at Abby's."

Vance stopped his pacing in front of McGee's desk and pondered the position that Gibbs had put him into. But because his gut was squirming with a feeling that he didn't like, he ignored the obvious conclusions that he and Gibbs' remaining team were coming to.

Resolutely and on sigh, he dished out his orders. "DiNozzo, Ziva, go check on Abby's place. Tim, get down to Abby's lab and see what you can find."

"What am I looking for, boss?" He asked with his usual innocent confusion.

"Anything, McGee, anything at all." Check her surveillance camera. It might reveal something."

Vance was bounding up the stairs before Tim could even answer him and heading for the lift, he silently chortled on the task that lay ahead; to see what Abby got up to when she wasn't being hassled by the team.

It was barely half an hour later that saw McGee staring at a piece of frozen film, not quite believing what he was seeing; Gibbs, tenderly holding Abby's chin as he tenderly kissed her. What in hells name was he going to tell Director Vance about that! And, worse than that. What were Tony and Ziva going to find when they got to Abby's place?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

**5 hours missing**

"You knock."

"No, you knock. You're the probie."

"You're just being a coward, Tony, in case Gibbs answers the door and rips your head off, yes?"

"No, that's not why I don't want to knock first, Ziva. I just...don't want to see Abby without her make up on."

"Like that would ever happen."

"You don't think Gibbs stayed the night?" He lowered his voice in case his boss was listening on the other side.

Ziva took a deep breath, pushed Tony aside and rapped on the door. "There's only one way to find out."

Both agents held their breaths for longer than necessary until it became more than apparent that no one was home. They looked at each other as the knowledge sunk in that maybe they'd stayed at Gibbs' place.

Tony turned on his heels and surveyed the area. Nothing seemed amiss. People were coming and going about their daily lives as usual. Tony found himself looking around him and around the door.

Ziva followed his gaze, her curiosity piqued. "You think Abby hides a key to her door right outside it? Do people actually do that in America?"

As Tony reached up and trailed his finger along the doors edge he said. "Sure, didn't you back home?"

Ziva snorted. "No! Living in a country governed by extremists you tend not to trust anyone. To leave a key to your home is asking to be killed."

Deadpanned and perplexed because he couldn't find the key he desperately wanted to find, he responded, "Only if you've been naughty."

Smirking at the image Tony had put into her mind, she was quick to tell him that she was one of the naughtiest. Slowly Tony turned to look down into her grinning face as he processed that little smidgen of information.

To say that Ziva David was an enigma was an understatement and Tony was still spending a lot of his down time thinking about what made her tick - besides killing bad guys, and he was fully aware that that was one of things that she did get her rocks off doing


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

Gibbs and Abby hadn't known what had hit them. One moment they were travelling along the highway towards home, both in a comfortable silence as each pondered over what was to come. In the next moment Gibbs struggled to hold onto the wheel as a dark pickup truck forcibly ran them off the road, and then the car tumbled down the embankment that ran along beside the road.

Everything slipped into slow motion as both Abby and Gibbs fought to save their own lives, and even though they were held into their seats by their seatbelts they were thrown around like battered ragdolls. Abby was the first to be knocked unconscious as Gibbs screamed her name as he futily tried to reach for her as her head hit the side window with a sickening crunch. But even as he screamed Abby's name it was cut off as his own head was wrenched back against the headrest knocking him as unconscious as his passenger. And all went blissfully black for them both.

"You stupid bastards! I didn't want you to kill them! Damn it, I just wanted them kidnapped, not murdered!"

Mike Franks paced around Gibbs' lounge with his hands on his hips as he raged at the two idiots that stood sheepishly before him. This wasn't supposed to have happened. This was supposed to have been a joke. But it was a joke that had now gone very badly wrong.

The uglier of the two morons that stood before their boss shifted uneasily on his feet. "We didn't mean for the accident to happen, Mike. The truck hit an oily patch and went out of control. I didn't mean for them to go through the railings. We were just gonna make the car stop and get them then."

"So where are they now?" Mike growled.

"In the lock-up like you said, boss."

"And are they alive?" Mike held his breath as he waited for the answer. He didn't like what his gut was telling him. He'd hired the two goons because he'd heard they were good. He sure as hell didn't hire them to kill his old probie and the girl.

"Sure they are, boss. A bit bashed up, but they're alive."

Mike stared at him as though he'd grown a second head. "How bashed up?"

"Just a bump or two on the head. No broken bones or nuthin' like that. We would have taken them to the ER if they'd been bad, Mike. We ain't no killers, if they ain't done nuthin' wrong."

Mike growled as he pondered over the predicament they'd put him in. He'd only meant to scare the living daylights out of his prodigy and the little gal that he'd figured he'd help to kick start a relationship between them. He liked Abby. Hell, if the truth be known, he liked Gibbs even better. They were right for each other, he was sure of it. But that damned rule # 12 that Gibbs had invented - and stuck to - was killing his buddy's future. He'd decided, in his infinite wisdom, that the pair needed a little nudge or two to get them started on something that couldn't be finished.

But he didn't mean a little nudge down a freeway embankment at barely 6am in the damn morning!

God damn it! He knew he should have done the job himself, but he couldn't risk being recognised, not yet anyways. All he wanted was them to spend some 'quality' time alone to figure out for themselves they were perfect for each other. And hell, if they got down to make babies together, then all the better!

Now he knew the cops would be turning up anytime soon. Worse still, it would be Gibbs' sidekicks turning up first, if that damn Director of theirs stuck his nose in. They all needed to scram before then. There was nowhere to hide in Gibbs' place and he knew DiNozzo and the others would go over the place with a fine toothed comb. Not because they were looking for clues, but because it was the perfect excuse to snoop through their boss's personal space.

Mike started to head towards the door and held his hand out as he did so. "The key?"

The fairer of the two men slipped the small padlock key into his hand as they followed him outside. Luckily it was still early enough in Gibbs' neighbourhood for the traffic to still be pretty quiet, but Mike didn't take any chances. He crept towards his car as though he was in a showdown. He skulked behind hedges, crouched down behind parked cars until he reached his own. He exhaled with relief when he finally got behind his wheel, watched as the two goons made their way to their own truck and then finally pulled away as quietly as he came.

Now all he had to do was wait and see what transpired between NCIS's top agent and the quirky lab rat. All Mike ever wanted was for them both to be happy. He'd remembered how the young Gibbs had been when he'd got Shannon and Kelly to come home to. He'd been a different man, back then. A nicer man. A happier man.

And, then there was Abigail Scuito, too weird and wacky for most normal guys. She needed someone strong, who loved her for herself and not for her amazing brains. Someone that would happily put up with her weird Gothic attributes, as long as she behaved like a wench in the bedroom. Someone like Gibbs.

Mike grinned as he drove off down the street, his mind running rampant with images of what Jethro Gibbs and Abigail Scuito were getting up to right at that minute. It was a pity that he didn't remember that they'd been battered senseless in a car wreck that could have easily killed them. He didn't even stop to consider just what Jethro Gibbs would do to him when he found out that it was him who'd put himself and the woman that he loved through hell.

And all for that thing called love.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

**9 hours missing**

Gibbs didn't have a clue where they were, only that they were in some kind of lock up, probably a container as the surrounding walls were definitely metallic. He'd woken to find both he and Abby lying on the floor and after frantically crawling over to Abby to check her pulse, Gibbs could only silently gasp with relief at finding it strong and steady, but her pallor really scared him, as did her unconscious state.

Slowly and painfully he manoeuvred himself so that he could sit with his back against the wall, then he gently pulled Abby closer so that she lay across his lap, and after tenderly kissing her chilled lips with his own trembling ones he held her close as he allowed himself to drift back off to sleep in the valiant hope that the sleep would ease the pounding headache that threatened to make him puke at any moment.

For another hour or so he drifted in and out of sleep. Or was it unconsciousness? He wasn't sure, but whichever it was, it didn't do him or his head one iota of good. What he'd do for a shot or two of bourbon was nobody's business, but then he wasn't on his own now, he had another body to think about; Abby. God help him, he had the woman that he had planned to court unconscious in his arms and he couldn't do a thing to help her.

Gibbs looked down onto Abby's head as it lay upon his lap. He smoothed back the wisps of hair that had fluttered over her cheek taking care not to touch the sore patch where she'd hit it. Seeing hers, he cautiously reached round to the back of his own head and tested the area with his fingers, grimacing as the feint pressure stung him, but relieved that he felt no more dampness. His silver hair was matted with his dried blood and he silently cursed once more at his own stupidity at driving with his head full of mushy stuff, and then he cursed again for getting Abby into such a predicament, and all because he'd wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her how he felt.

His gaze was pulled back to Abby as he heard her whimper in her sleep. He didn't want her to sleep, but he let her so that he could get some quality solitary time to figure a few things out, the first and foremost, of course, was how they were going to get out of there. The second was an excuse to just sit and regain his equilibrium. His head still swung with pain and fatigue and he hoped a short respite would ease both complaints. And then he tried to think of someone - anyone who'd harboured a bad enough grudge to want to do him some harm. Hell, he'd pissed off so many people over the years that it could have been anyone.

But trying to work out who his captor was as he looked back down to the woman by his side got pushed aside as he brought himself back to the present. Whoever the assailants were they were not going to help Abby and himself out of the predicament that they were both in. He needed to focus on the now and he made his mind empty of anger and pain, just for a little while.

With the enforced silence Gibbs eventually discovered something valuable. He heard no engine sound, or creaks and groans from shifting containers around them. Chances were they still on land somewhere, and hopefully, that meant that it was still in a port. But as he listened further he realised that there was too much silence for that possibility. There were no dock sounds. No machinery. No nothing, so he figured they were somewhere secluded.

He felt queasy as his mind filled with images of cargo ships; Huge monsters that held literally hundreds of containers. They could have been anywhere amongst them, from the very bowels of the vessel to very top, the ones that swayed with and sometimes fell off and into the deepest oceans never to be seen again. Just thinking about being situated in either place broke him out into a cold sweat, but with each passing hour he calmed some.

They were on land, he was fairly certain of it now. Their imminent danger was lessened by 50%, and as he watched the woman in his arms sleep off the last remaining effects of her sober hangover his heart lightened by 50%, too.

Eventually Gibbs decided that he needed to wake up his charge and as he gently stroked her cheek he softly called her name. "Abby. Abs, come on, you've got to wake up, sweetheart."

For a long moment she ignored his command, but then as things obviously filtered through the fog of her sleep she slowly remembered where she was. She rolled onto her back and looked up into his shadowy face. "Are you waking me up to tell me some good news, Gibbs, or are you just being your mean old self and doing it just for the sheer hell of it?" She groused.

Gibbs quietly chuckled at her surly tone, a tone that he was now used to. "How can you call me mean, Abs? I bend over backwards to keep you happy at work. I bring you your Caf Pow! whenever you do good for me. And I save your ass when you need me to."

"Didn't managed that this time, did you, Gibbs?" She quickly shot back and instantly regretted it straight after.

Unable to hold her guilty gaze, Gibbs broke his eyes away from her and stared at an invisible corner in the container, but he maintained his touch to her face. "No," he murmured, "I didn't, did I?"

Instantly Abby felt sorry for her petty remark. Her response had meant to be a joke because she'd known darned well that Gibbs would have died first rather than get her into the pickle that they were in. But her own inner terrors had slipped into her answer and she inadvertently hurt the man that she would never even consider hurting.

Slowly pushing herself up so that she could face him head on, she steadied herself by putting one hand down on the cold surface on the other side of his now crossed legs. Taking his chin and pulling it back so that she could look straight into his eyes she whispered, "Gibbs, this is not your fault. Do you hear me? This is 'not' your fault."

For a long moment the couple simply looked into one another's eyes, but eventually, Abby tenderly pulled his face nearer to hers and settled her lips onto his, just for a brief moment, and only breaking away so that she could say once more, more firmly this time, holding his face gently between her hands. "This is not your fault, Gibbs. I love you, and you love me, and I know you would never put me in harm's way. Somebody wanted us out of the way for some reason, but they didn't kill us, Gibbs. They - did - not - kill - us. You got that?" She punctuated, just to make sure he got what she was telling him.

For a brief moment Abby had never seen Gibbs look so tortured as he twisted his head in her hands in a valiant effort to not only remove her, but remove the waves of anger that permeated his mind. But Abby wouldn't let go and with an anguished moan Gibbs hauled her onto his lap and held her so tightly against his chest that she feared she would burst.

She instinctively slid her arms around his shoulders and rode the storm of fear along with him. Gibbs buried his face into her shoulder and fought to hold onto his emotions. She felt him breathing against her skin, felt the tiny kisses that he planted along the line of her neck, heard the muffled murmurs against her throat and she strained her ears to hear what he was telling her.

But Abby only heard one word; Die. Gibbs was clearly convinced that he or they were going to die. Abby shifted her legs so that she sat astride his lap. Intimacy didn't come into the motion as Abby lifted her head and looked deeply into her eyes.

"We're not going to die, Gibbs, and I'm not going to let you die." Abby's voice was urgent against the rising sense of panic that she began to feel in the man beneath her. She felt his hands drop to her hips and suddenly Abby wished with all her heart that she'd put one of her short, short skirts on. Having Gibbs so near to her heat had now filled her mind with another urgency, the most primal one of all.

She moved slightly to gauge Gibbs' reaction to the movement and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath. "Abby, what are you doing?"

She shifted again, her smile sassy as she looked beneath her lashes at his startled face. "I'm making you feel better. Is it working, Gibbs?"

Gibbs responded by pulling her tighter to him and there was no mistaking the effect that she was having on him. "Yeah, you could say that, and if you don't want this to go any further, I suggest you knock it off."

Abby grinned easily at him. "And if I did?"

"Trust me you don't, not here anyway."

Slowly Abby got the gist of what he was telling her. "Are you telling me that you want to make love to me, Gibbs?"

Exasperated, Gibbs muttered, "Are you telling me you don't want us to happen, Abs?"

Abby's euphoria could have lit the sky at night. "Are you kidding me! Get us out of here and I'll show you what I want, Gibbs."

And as they both pushed to a stand they realised that they'd become a united front. They both had a date to keep and it wasn't going to happen while they were stuck in a container in the middle of nowhere with no idea if they were even going to survive the night.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

**12 hours missing**

Tony dropped into his seat with a weary, sick sigh and looked up into Ziva's face as she perched herself on the corner of his desk.

"You're concerned about them, aren't you, Tony?" She asked as she studied his profile.

"Yeah, I am. I know Gibbs can look after himself, Ziva, but with Abby in tow..." He petered out as a rare snatch of emotion clogged his throat. But he cleared it, throwing Ziva a 'don't you dare' look that silenced her for all of ten seconds.

"Abby is a strong woman, Tony. You underestimate her." She slid off the desk and meandered over to McGee's desk, sparked up his computer and then waited for it to come to life. She quickly flicked through his emails, eventually hitting the close button with a hint of disgust. "Nothing."

As she made to do the same to Gibbs' computer, Tony watched her with unease. "That's not a good idea, Ziva. You know how he hates us snooping through his stuff." But even as he said it, he was pushing himself to his feet and eagerly moving to her side as they watched the machine come to life.

"I think he may forgive us this time, Tony. And besides," She added, clicking on one particular email that looked somewhat promising. "Isn't this what the kidnappers would expect us to do; to look for a ransom note, yes?"

"You really think they've been kidnapped?"

"Don't you, Tony?"

"I think maybe they'd better be, otherwise the Director is going to be mighty pissed at us."

"Why us?" She asked curiously. "We have done nothing wrong."

"Yeah we have, Ziva. We don't know where they are, and we don't know how to get hold of them. We're supposed to know everything about our team and we know nothing. Well, not exactly '_nothing_'" He added mysteriously.

"And what _do_ you know, Tony?"

He let go a huge sigh as he bolstered himself to tell her something that he knew. Something that both she and McGee _should_ have known. The fact that they hadn't put two and two together in the same way that he had meant that they'd missed the little things that had given Gibbs' feelings for Abby away. Somehow, Tony had known this day was coming and it had only been a matter of time before the two of them took a day to explore what they had both been dancing around for the past seven years.

Tony studied Ziva's features, looking deeply into her eyes, seeing her concern, not only for their missing comrades, but for him, too. Today had only highlighted something in his own life that was sitting on the back burner ; the relationship between himself and the ex Mossad operative. He knew, deep inside his heart that his feelings for Ziva ran much deeper than the friendship that he displayed for all to see. And like Gibbs, he knew that one day, Ziva was going to turn to him as see a man who wanted her. A man that loved her, only their time hadn't come yet.

"Gibbs is crazy about Abby, Ziva, and I think that maybe today is the day that Abby finds that out."

Ziva watched Tony's face as she digested the news until eventually she said, "You think that maybe Gibbs kidnapped Abby?"

As Tony reached out and absently tucked a stray strand of hair away from her cheek, he murmured. "The hell if I know, Ziva. The hell if I know."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight 

Not even realising they had done it, when they saw Director Vance come down the stairs, Tony, Tim and Ziva formed a united front to prepare them for what the man had to say. As Vance stepped to their level he came to stand in front of them, looking at each of them in turn before speaking.

"Gibbs' car has been found, down the embankment off Highway 105." Before any of the startled team could ask the painfully obvious, he ploughed on. "Neither Gibbs or Abby were in the car. I want all three of you on the scene. See what you can find. DiNozzo, I take it you found no evidence of them at his house?"

It was a long moment as he absorbed what his boss was telling him until he suddenly remembered that he'd been asked a question. "Um, no, sir, there was nothing out of place. His bed had been slept in, same as Abby's, but no one was home at either place. We did, however, find two mugs of cold coffee on Abby's kitchen table which suggests that Gibbs was there at some point."

"Then we can assume that they were in his car together. That means we are looking at a possible kidnapping. We all know Gibbs has made a lot of enemies over the years so I get it that he's the obvious target. But then again, Abby has put a few nutballs away herself. No telling who the target is at this point."

"Maybe they managed to get out of the car and are walking. Perhaps Gibbs thought the car might blow."

All three men turned to look steadily at the ex-Mossad officer as they pondered her train of thought. "It's a possibility!" she continued as she tried to stress the importance that their friends could be out there, hurt, lost, or in danger. Perhaps they were being followed, even.

Vance was the only one that considered her observation with any degree of rationale. "The local cops have made a preliminary search of the immediate area and found nothing. That doesn't mean they aren't out there. You're all good NCIS agents, I suggest you get out there and start doing your job. Any more questions?"

McGee, even though he had kept quiet while the rest of them had talked around him suddenly piped up. "Shall I check the local hospitals, boss? Maybe someone took them to one already."

Vance turned to head back up the stairs, throwing over his shoulder as he picked up his pace, "I'll get onto that while you three get out to the crash site. I want them found, sooner rather than later. Time and daylight is running out."

As Vance hurried along the balcony he watched Gibbs' team gather all their gear together. He'd had more to tell them but had decided not to. They were going to find out soon enough. Gibbs' car was a total wreck. There was no way the couple got out of it without being seriously injured. If they were indeed being held hostage somewhere, he just hoped to God that their kidnappers had some compassion.

But in all his years as an agent he had never come across one that had.


	9. Chapter 9

So many apologies for not being able to update. Internet went down for 4 WHOLE DAYS! Aaaaaaargh!

Anyway, without further ado, the continutation of Going after tomorrow. Enjoy :)

Chapter nine

"No way. There is no way in hell they got out of that alive."

"Mr. DiNozzo, don't be so melodramatic. Of course Jethro and Abigail are still alive, otherwise they'd still be here."

Tony gratefully latched onto Ducky's logic and hoped to God that the older and wiser man was right. Still, Tony still couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. The car wreck, the horrible mangled mess of car that once belonged to his boss. The same horrible mangled mess the probably had Abby inside, too, as bent and twisted as the outside. He felt himself go cold and couldn't suppress the shiver that trickled through him. And then he felt Ziva's hand touch his shoulder and he gratefully tore his eyes away from the scene before him and look to the woman who stood at his side, her face etched in worry for not only him, but for Gibbs and Abby, as well.

"I'm sure they are alright, Tony. Ducky is correct. They would both still be here if they were..." She couldn't finish the sentence, but then Tony didn't want her to, anyways. It made it too real. Too scary.

"Come on," She murmured quietly, tugging on his arm. "Let's get down there and get started. The sooner we get onto it, the sooner we get them home."

They'd taken four steps before they remembered the other member of their team and slid to a halt, turning back to face him. Tim McGee stood stock still staring down at the crash site. He appeared to be in shock and his immediate superior knew of only one way to kick him out of it, even though in reality, he was shocked as the probie. But Tim didn't need to know that.

"Hey! McShirk! You gonna help us find the boss man and Abby, or stand there like a dumb ass while we do all the work?"

Tony and Ziva held their breath as they waited for Tim to respond. And eventually he did, with a deep swallow and a flicker of his blue eyes he was back with them. "I'll get the bag," He murmured. As he turned back towards the truck Tony and Ziva could only look at one another in sympathy, each knowing exactly how he felt, both having seen more than enough death between them to have reached a level of nonchalance that was required to get the job done.

Tony, Ziva and Tim studied the ground around them. There were footprints, drag marks, and more disturbingly, blood droplets. But, not lots of blood, a fact that each of them zoomed in on.

"I think they've been kidnapped."

Tony momentarily took his eyes away from the scene before him to quickly study Ziva's face. But it was only for a second, long enough to see relief upon her features. "Yeah, it does. That means they're alive."

"But where the devil are they?"

Tony lifted his head to survey the surrounding area as he thought about Tim's question. "Who the hell knows? For all we know they could be tucked up in bed in some motel somewhere laughing their asses off."

Tim was mortified at his colleague's flippant response. "You don't really think that do you, Tony? They could both be really badly hurt. The boss man wouldn't do that to us, would he?"

Tony tore his eyes away from the splodge of blood on the passenger door window to look worriedly at McGee. "No, no, I don't think he would. But then, if they have been kidnapped, why haven't we gotten a ransom note yet?"

Once more Tony turned full circle on the spot with his hands on his hips as he looked for something…anything that would give him an answer, silently cursing all the foliage for hiding the fact that there had even been a car crash there. Guilt swept through as he realised that even he and Ziva had driven along the same piece of road barely hours earlier and hadn't spotted the now obvious signs that a crash had happened. They'd been arguing over something trivial, he recalled. God, they were always arguing, it seemed. And now look what had happened.

Ziva's gaze followed that of her comrades, ignoring the buzz of the local traffic cops as they worked around them. That they were really doing their job didn't register with the mentally stranded team as they struggled with the myriad of unanswered questions that plagued them. All the three of them knew was that Gibbs and Abby were out there somewhere. Where, no one knew, except for the perpetrators.

And then Ziva voiced the one question the other two did not dare to ask. "Do you think they are dead, Tony?"

Both men, along with those milling around them who were close enough to hear turned their heads towards Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, Gibbs' right hand man when the team's illustrious leader wasn't present. He wished with all his heart that he had the balls to answer her honestly. Instead he sought Ducky's steady gaze as he, too, waited on bated breath to hear what he had to say. And with reluctance, he eventually murmured. "No I don't think they are, Zee."

He almost heard the collective sigh of relief ripple throughout his audience. Never in his life had he felt so useless, so inept, or so utterly lost as he did right then. But then as he caught Ducky's steady gaze once more, he realised that the team were now dependant on him. It was a sobering thought. That he'd led the team once before when Gibbs had temporarily 'retired', and had succeeded, he'd been acutely aware that Gibbs was out there somewhere looking over his shoulder, waiting to mentally smack the back of his head when he goofed up.

This time, though, he didn't know whether Gibbs was dead or alive. This time, he realised, that becoming team leader was not something that he wanted to do without him 'around'. In truth he was a bit of a coward. He needed Gibbs at his side, whether it was in reality or in spirit. Without him there, Tony DiNozzo was half the man the rest of the world saw, and he wasn't sure he had the balls to do what he clearly had to do. Kate's death almost destroyed him. The loss of Jeanne hurt him deeper still. But losing Gibbs… Losing Gibbs would have been worse than the two of them put together.

And as he headed back up the embankment away from the numerous stares, Tony silently prayed that Gibbs and Abby really were playing footsy somewhere. At least then, when he eventually found them, he could be the one to finally give Gibbs the smack upside the head that he more than deserved.

But first he had to find them.


	10. Chapter 10

And a treat for all those who patiently waited for number 9 to come along. Here's 10... ;)

Chapter ten

**14 hours missing**

"Gibbs, I need to pee."

"Can't you hold it for a bit longer, Abby?"

"God, no, Gibbs! I've been bursting for the past hour now! I can't wait any longer!"

"So, go, Abby. Don't mind me, I won't watch."

Abby looked around the dark, dank container with trepidation and desperation, and when she didn't make a move to relieve herself, Gibbs sighed and came back to stand in front of her, realising that she was shy at having to do such a personal thing in front of him. He gently held her upper arms in his big hands and looked into her eyes, his own gentle with understanding. "Abby, you need to go, so go. I promise I won't look."

He walked away from her, leaving her standing alone in the middle of the metal box, his firm. "Go, Abby. I can't see you, and it's too damn dark in here to see much of anything anyways."

"Put your fingers in your ears."

He spun on the spot, his shadowy form scaring her even from that distance. "What?" he barked.

"I...I can't go if I know you can hear me, Gibbs! Please!" She wailed, fidgeting on the spot in her desperation to relieve herself.

With a dramatic and tolerant sigh, Gibbs did as she requested and she watched him stick his fingers into his ears and turn away from her. Scuttling over to the doors Abby quickly pulled down her clothing and did what she had do, her sigh of relief only audible to herself and the cavernous hold she was in.

Less than a minute later Gibbs felt her tap him on the shoulder. Taking his fingers from his ears he turned around to find her standing there with a soppy grin on her face. "Your turn."

"My turn?" he asked with puzzlement etched in his features.

"Sure. And I'll afford you the same courtesy, Gibbs."

Gibbs smirked at her nerve. "You think I care whether you hear me take a whizz, Abby?"

Affronted, Abby came to stand in his space and pushed him away. "Ewww! I don't think so! Go, boss man. Go shake a leg - or whatever it is you guys shake."

Gibbs laughter echoed around the hollow container as he made his way over the same spot that Abby had used. In times of adversity, Abby Scuito sure knew how to lighten a moment.

But, as he watched his own urine disappear through the minuscule slither of fading light beneath the door, Gibbs was more than aware that it would be the last light moment the two of them were likely to have. Night was beginning to fall. They were thirsty, hungry and about to start getting really cold as neither of them was suitably dressed for a turn in a freezing cold hellhole, and he hoped with every ounce of his heart that his team were making progress back at headquarters, because if they weren't, there was a strong possibility that they wouldn't be found alive.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

**18 hours missing**

Mike cursed silently to himself as he started at the noisy bird in the tree close by that had signalled his presence. He continued his slow movements studying the ground for anything that he could step on that would alert the probie that someone was outside the long abandoned container. Step by step he got closer until he was near enough to reach the padlock to unlock it.

It was a long five minutes standing in silence before he plucked up enough courage to reach out and take the padlock in his hand, insert the key and turn it. The feint sound of metal scraping on metal made louder by the night made him grit his teeth as he slid the padlock from the door. It was another few minutes before he made himself turn on his heels and silently, but quickly walk away. Not knowing if they were dead or alive ate at his soul, but deep, in his heart, he knew that they were okay. They had to be or he'd never forgive himself for butting in.

But he'd done it. He'd set them free. The guilt that he had harboured since he'd realised that his goons had cocked up big time finally lifted from his shoulders. He hadn't wanted them hurt. Hell, he hadn't wanted them to suffer at all. In hindsight his idea had been stupid, when in reality, all he had to probably have done was get the two of them together, slap them both upside the head and tell them that they were both a pair of dumbasses!

But how did you tell a man who was as old as yourself to get his act together and make merry with someone who he'd only ever considered to be a friend? Mike had seen the invisible chemistry between Jethro and Abby right from the first moment they'd all met. That Gibbs had bedded more red-heads than he could count since, and that Abby had done similarly with as many whackos, hadn't changed things one whit. It didn't matter. The fact was that Abby was pushing 40 and getting past her safe child-bearing age had spurred him into doing something so rash. Jethro Gibbs needed another baby in his arms, and until he had one, he was never going to let his heartache go.

Abby needed Gibbs as much as Gibbs needed Abby, and he figured he needed to be the man in the middle to give them the gentle shove that they both needed, preferably towards each other. Better still, laying down, getting down and dirty, and pregnant. That was his ultimate goal.

Now all he had to do now was get away from there before Gibbs got curious and tested the door. By the time they were free he hoped to be back in Mexico where he truly belonged. Mike chuckled as he climbed into his seat and turned the engine, flooring it to make it as noisy as possible as he roared away in a plume of dust and grit now that he knew he was safely out of danger, hoping that the noise had reached his old buddy's ears. He figured he'd give them six hours before alerting someone back at base where they were, anonymously, of course.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

Gibbs eyes stayed shut as he listened. For the past hour as the two of them had settled down in pretty much the same was as they had before, both needing to sleep to not only conserve their energy, but help the headaches that still plagued them from their initial injuries.

He wasn't sure what had roused him from his sleep. Maybe it was from years of being a marine; always on their toes, always aware of every little thing that could become a matter of life and death for him and his fellow comrades. Or was it because he was a cop? Either way the action had served him well over time.

But he heard it. It was distant; the faint rumble of a car engine, the unmistakable soft '_whump_' of a door closing. Gibbs unconsciously held his breath suddenly afraid that he would miss something if he breathed too loudly and didn't hear something more valuable.

The container was dark inside apart from tiny shards of moonlight that filtered through the air vents in its top corner. For many long moments he heard nothing, and then a bird twittered in alarm, and it was then that Gibbs knew for certain that there was someone out there.

He lowered his gaze down to Abby's sleeping face and watched her breathe with what little moonlight there was, and the breath that he was holding hitched in his throat almost strangling him as thoughts of losing her washed through his mind. But he couldn't lose her, not now. They'd been through so much together as friends and now his chance had come to go beyond that friendship.

Jethro had bided his time in waiting for Abby. Over the months, even years, he had watched her from the sidelines, waiting for her to finally see him for someone else other than her boss, and friend. He didn't know when the change had happened. He didn't even know _why_ the change had happened. But it had, and after seven long years of patiently waiting on the sidelines for Abby to see beyond the friend that he was and see the lover that he could be, just from that one, small seemingly insignificant kiss, he'd finally decided to make his move.

Then this had happened on the very day that he was going to make her his own, and as he gently caressed her pale cheek he momentarily forgot the predicament they were in, lifted her slowly higher against his chest and placed his cool lips against her even chillier ones and tenderly whispered as he showered light kisses upon her mouth. "I love you, Abby. I only hope to God that you can love me, too, after all this."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

Abby slowly reached her fingers to Jethro's throat, stroked it gently and then moved down to buttons of his shirt. Her eyes were locked onto his as she undid the top four, finally sighing as she settled her palm against his chest, feeling his heat and his heartbeat pounding against her. She felt Gibbs tremble as he dropped his head back and quietly gasped, his mouth dropping open as waves of muted desire rippled through him. He hadn't wanted to start something that neither could stop while they were incarcerated in their metal prison, but then he hadn't meant to kiss her again, either.

But, he had, and now Abby had turned the tables on him and had responded by touching him. He stared at the ceiling even though he couldn't see it and allowed himself the pleasure of her gentle touch as she let her fingers drift wherever they wanted to go.

She touched a nipple and he groaned low in his throat unconsciously squeezing her shoulder as she lay against his chest. It had been the invitation that Abby had needed and seconds later Gibbs dropped his head to watch her suckle him. That she looked like a babe in arms suddenly seemed surreal to him and he shifted his legs as the motion finally hit his loins and once more, he dropped his head back, closed his eyes and simply allowed himself to enjoy what she was doing to him.

"Touch me, Jethro."

Her request barely made his ears, but when it did, he felt himself released. From what he didn't know, and now Abby had given him the freedom to do his own exploring, he didn't hesitate a moment more. That they were in possibly the worst place on Earth to start something that probably wouldn't end didn't enter into his mind as he reached in to undo her shirt buttons.

As he undone one after another, revealing moonlit creamy mounds encased in black lace, Gibbs didn't think he'd ever seen anything more beautiful. His index finger trembled as he traced a path along the edge of the lace and then back again. He realised that Abby was trembling as much as he as she finally released him to lie back in his arm as he supported her and let him touch and drink in his fill of her. But when his fingertip finally slipped beneath the lace and touched her nipple her body suddenly arched with a longing that had lain dormant for far too long.

Seizing the unconscious movement towards his face Gibbs quickly took the sacrificial offering for what it was, quickly shoving the lace aside and settling his own lips around the now engorged tip, suckling just as she had done only moments ago on his own.

Abby almost died with joy as Gibbs took her into his mouth, her fingers moving of their own violation to thread themselves through his silky hair. Tenderly he lathed his tongue over it and Abby could barely keep herself still as shocks of desire coursed through her.

"Oh, God, Gibbs, I never knew… I never…" She gasped as he tugged and licked at her skin, his fingers moulding, moving her closer to him.

"I know, baby, I know…" He murmured as he lifted his face to nuzzle the soft skin at her throat. "Too much time wasted. I've let too many years go past when you could have been mine."

It was then that he heard it; the roar of the engine bringing with it the shattering conclusion that the game had changed again. Gibbs lifted his head from Abby's neck and listened. But only silence now greeted his reaching ears. Abby stopped her own movements to listen along side of him, but eventually her own impatience forced her to speak.

"Is someone out there, Gibbs? Tell me."

"Someone was, Abs," He murmured, "but they aren't now. We've either been set free, or we've been left to die. I hope to God it's the first scenario."

Gibbs' eyes met Abby's in what was left of the moonlight shadows, all thoughts of passion gone as realisation came to settle upon them.

"I don't want to die, Gibbs. I want a future with you. I want more than what we've got. I want to explore…this…us" She brokenly told him, not sure of what she was telling him, but on the other hand, telling him everything he wanted to hear as she tenderly cupped his cheek.

"I do, too, Abby. I think it's time we tried to get out of here. Someone was here, that I'm certain of. I figure that as they didn't bother opening the door to check if we're still alive, then they've sprung the lock so we can get ourselves out of this hell-hole."

Abby began to move her body away from his, doing up her buttons as she did so. Gibbs watched her in the gloom as dust motes filled the streams of moonlight still filtering through the vents. Finally pushing himself to his feet he stood quietly watching her as she stood before him. Eventually he reached his finger out and tipped her chin so that he could see her eyes.

"We're in this together, Abby," He told her gently, "whatever the outcome. Okay?"

For a long moment Abby studied his eyes before eventually moving into his waiting arms. Slipping her own arms around his waist, she mumbled against his throat, tenderly kissing it at the same time. "Okay."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

Gibbs breathed deeply as he stood in front of the door. Abby stood beside him, willing him on to find out if they were free or whether they were goners. Eventually, as she watched Gibbs stare at the door, she blurted, "Go on, Gibbs, and try it!"

Gibbs turned his head to look at her before finally reaching out both hands and placing them on the cold rusty metal. They both held their breath as he gave it one almighty shove. The unmistakable sound of long unused hinges groaned and creaked as they protested against being opened again echoed through the vast emptiness of the prison that had held its captives for longer than it had intended.

Gibbs almost lost his footing as the door suddenly gave way to his leverage and he stumbled out into the darkness. His whoop of euphoria was lost to the moonlight as he hurried to help Abby from the container, then pulled her into his arms as they both caved in to the relief that came with their freedom.

The pent up horrors that had shrouded their last few hours seeped from them both and they clung to each other and thanked God and anyone else who cared to listen for saving them from a death not worth contemplating. Another twenty four hours with no food or water would have certainly done them both in, of that they were more than aware. That somebody had taken pity on them and set them free meant that they'd been given a second chance, a chance that meant more than just getting back to the real world of living. They had each other, and that meant more to him than everything else put together.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

**19 hours missing**

"DiNozzo! McGee! Ziva! Get up here, now!"

Director Vance's booming voice bounced down the stairs shocking the team from where they studying the information that had been collected from the crash site. One after the other they bounded up to the upper level and followed Vance as he stepped back into his office. Closing the door behind McGee, he tugged on his jacket before speaking.

"I've had an anonymous tip. It said that we'd find Gibbs and Miss Scuito five miles north of Shenandoah National Park, One mile off route 522. By my reckoning they should be relatively close to a place called Shenandoah Farms. Whoever was on the other end of the line said they were both alive. How alive, they wouldn't say, but, they are alive. There's a helicopter on standby waiting for you. Go bring our people back, team. I want to go home tonight – what's left of it"

The excited, but quiet, chorus of, "On it, boss." was lost in the scuffle to get out of Vance's office. Vance grinned as the door slammed shut behind them, but when it knocked again moments later and McGee timidly stuck his head through the door, Vance was more than ready for the question that they all forgot ask.

"Uh… any idea where they're being held, boss?"

"Nope. Just said that they were probably on foot by now as they'd let them both go."

Tim hesitated, almost closed the door then reopened it as another question popped up from nowhere. "They are okay, aren't they, boss?"

Vance sighed as he sunk into his chair. "That he wouldn't tell me, McGee, so I suggest you catch up with DiNozzo and Ziva and then hope and pray that they are okay, because if they aren't, it'll be down to you three to bring them home."

He didn't have to add _– in a body bag_ -. It had been more than obvious that that was what Vance had meant. Tim went cold as an image of Gibbs and Abby huddled together in death assaulted his head. Barely seconds later he was hurrying down the stairs to catch up with Tony and Ziva with the devil chasing his heels at the prospect of finding Gibbs and Abby dead because of their laxity.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

Aches, pains and bruises quickly made themselves known as Gibbs physically hauled Abby alongside him. Holding her upright by the shoulders made his own various ailments scream in protest. On his own he could have gone at his own pace, but with Abby in tow he felt an urgency to find help the priority. Abby wasn't as resilient as he and her frequent yelps and squeaks of pain as they stumbled along tore at his very soul.

But they couldn't stay where they were, wherever that was. All Gibbs knew as dawn began to creep through the dark clouds was that they were miles from nowhere, probably a park somewhere, and there was no sign of life anywhere. No road, no water, nothing.

He figured that they were in a National Park somewhere in the north, but that was his wildest guess. Taking a mental guess at his direction he ploughed on relentlessly hoping that before long they would find something that would help them out of their predicament. But then Abby took a tumble almost wrenching his arm out of its socket as she did so and he plunged to the ground deftly turning himself just in time before he fell on top of her.

"I've…gotta stop…Gibbs. Just give…me a minute…please." Abby pleaded as weakness and fatigue cascaded through her.

With reluctance Gibbs dropped down beside her, lay down on the cool dirt and pulled her over to his side so that she lay with her head upon his still screaming shoulder. "Okay, Abs. I guess a few minutes won't hurt." He panted, as his own head swam with fatigue, hunger and thirst. Knowing that she would have been feeling exactly the same made him succumb to her request. Any other person, he would have been shouting and cursing at them to keep going. He was a Marine, and a Marine didn't lie down and take forty winks for anyone.

But then Abby wasn't anyone. She was his girl, and as he let his body settle for those precious forty winks he allowed himself a small satisfied smile. His girl. He liked the way that sounded.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

**20 hours missing**

In Tony's opinion, Infra-red had been just about one of the best inventions of the 20th century. All three agents studied the screen over the pilots shoulder as they began to sweep Shenandoah Park. They ignored the wildlife. They ignored the groups of people holding illegal bonfire parties. They even ignored what was obviously a hunter with a gun, especially when they spotted the huge grizzly that he clearly had in his sights. But even so, the pilot still radioed it in to let the ground cops pick him up. Hunting was illegal, after all.

But eventually they didn't ignore the tell-tale signature of the two people lying down together, their body heat clearly cooler than those they had seen elsewhere. The two bodies were melded together, and for a moment the team thought it had been two lovers enjoying the privacy of the moonlight. But if they were lovers, they weren't having too much fun, by all appearances.

With a healthy dose of hope, they all watched as one of the bodies – Gibbs – sat up as he had clearly heard the gentle _whomp, whomp _of the chopper blades. Within moments, the two of them had risen to their feet and were jumping and waving about, their body signals heating with the energetic action, but not by much as they were obviously chilled to the bone.

They had found them.

The pilot rose away from the desperate couple to locate a safe place to land, which turned out to be almost half a mile away near the road. If Gibbs had known they'd so close to it he would have pushed Abby on, for sure.

Before the helicopter had touched the floor, Ziva, Tony and Tim hit the dirt running towards the place they'd seen Gibbs and Abby. Five minutes later, in a collision of bodies and tears of relief, the Magnificent Five were all reunited.


	18. Chapter 18

Well, this is it and I hope you enjoyed my little tale. Thanks soooooo much to everyone who left me wonderful reviews, they meant the world to me :)

Epilogue

After an enforced trip to Bethesda hospital to patch up their various, but luckily, mostly minor ailments, Gibbs and Abby were finally on their way home. There was no question as to which home they were going to, and as Tony pulled up outside Gibbs' home, they all piled out of the car, one by one.

Gibbs reached into take Abby's hand to help her out, not releasing her fingers as they all shut the doors quietly. It was 5.00 in the morning and the neighbourhood was in darkness, save a lone dog that had been alerted by their presence.

They were all silent as they slowly made their way up Gibbs' driveway, their footsteps echoing in the quietness of dawn. Reaching the door, Gibbs turned the handle, pushing it open wide so that he could gently usher Abby inside. Once she was in, he turned to face the rest of his team who were coming up behind him, each one them assuming they were going inside for a nightcap. But Gibbs had other ideas.

"Okay, team, this is where we say goodnight. Go home and get some rest. I expect to see you at your desks at 0 ten hundred tomorrow morning. Don't be late." And with that he stepped inside and firmly closed the door on his comrade's surprised faces.

Tony, Ziva and Tim stared with disbelief at the closed white door, not quite believing what Gibbs had just done to them after everything that had happened. But eventually, realising that their boss had indeed shut them out, one by one, they spoke, disappointment making their voices sulky.

"Goodnight,"

"Boss,"

"Abby."

Disgruntled, the three waited long enough to realise that they were really being shut out and then slowly, disappointedly turned and walked back towards the car, Tony's murmur loud in the quietness. "Well, I guess that answers the question as to whether they are an item or not."

Ziva pulled open the driver's door as she added her own observation to the barrage of thoughts that bounced between the three of them. "They could be just friends, Tony. I did not see anything that might indicate that they were more."

As Tim climbed into the back seat, he too, had his own theory. "Maybe Abby is just scared and doesn't want to be left on her own tonight."

Tony simply smirked at the pair of them as Ziva started the engine and roared away from the kerb. "Nah. Didn't you two see their shirt buttons?"

They both chorused with confusion. "Shirt buttons?"

Tony just smiled secretively out of the window into the darkness, murmuring knowingly as he watched the world fly by at break neck speed, "Yeah, shirt buttons."

"Come here."

Abby didn't need another invitation when she slid into Gibbs' arms as he braced himself against his front door as he'd waited for the Three Musketeers to go home and leave them in peace. The last three hours had been a trial, to say the least, more so than their twenty odd hours of incarceration. There had been the gruelling questions, the poking and prodding from both the hospital staff _and_ the director. And then the tense drive home as the silence within the car's confines threatened to strangle them all with even more questions, questions that they all knew would never be answered. At least, not with the words.

But, at last, they were home and now he had Abby right where he wanted her; in his arms, in his home. He nuzzled against her throat deftly ignoring the smell of disinfectant that thenurses had used on her various abrasions. To him, she'd always smell of heaven.

He lifted his arms to her shoulders and pulled her in tighter against him, squeezing her tight, suddenly enormously grateful that he hadn't lost her. To not have had the chance to be with her was more than he could bare and he felt himself shudder as images that he no longer wanted to recall rippled through his exhausted body.

Abby felt the shudder against her own trembling. As much as she wanted to go to bed - his bed, she did not want this moment to end. At last it was just him and her, safe together, alone and home. She gently eased away from his neck to look at his face. What she saw would be etched in her heart forever. It was all there; love, desire, relief, and hope.

Abby slowly moved forward to settle her lips upon his, her battered and torn hands rising to tenderly cup his face. The kisses started light; testing, teasing until by mutual consent they opened their mouths and finally let each other in. Tongue's clashed and danced, sucked and tormented for more than their mouths could offer. Moans became groans and hands became scrambling fists seeking a place to touch and soar somewhere magical, hindered only by the barrier of unwanted clothes.

Moments later, Abby felt herself being lifted and she automatically shifted her legs to cross over at his back as he started to move away from the door. As they continued to devour each other's mouths, Gibbs carefully sidestepped his furniture on his way to the stairs. But he hadn't got very far when he came to a halt in the middle of his lounge.

Puzzlement creased his features as he reluctantly left Abby's mouth and sniffed the air. "Do you smell that, Abs?"

Abby sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Cigarette smoke."

And as Gibbs started to move again, he gave her a sharp peck before speaking again. "Yeah, and I know who it belongs to, too."

But as he began to mount the stairs, one by one, the owner of the cigarette smoke was forgotten, until tomorrow when he found out just why Mike Franks was in his house while he and Abby were locked away – apparently harmlessly – in a lock-up, miles away from home.

The bedroom door slammed shut on the world as Gibbs took Abby into his domain to finish what never had gotten started. He had finally got the chance to go after tomorrow with the woman he loved, and for so very long, at last, Abby was going with him, all the way.

End

August 2010


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